CHAPTER XXVIII

A family of zoologists—Flesh-eating kangaroos—How the ant-eater propagates—Civilised natives—Weapons and implements—Civilisation and demoralisation.

Some time afterwards I made a journey to the west to a station owned by Mr. Barnard, and bearing the strange name Coomooboolaroo. The family of the squatter was particularly interested in natural history, an interest I had observed in several places, but rarely so marked as here. Mr. Barnard himself was a very able entomologist, and possessed a fine collection of insects, which he was constantly increasing. His wife was a great help to him, and made excellent drawings of the specimens. Their four sons had a similar taste, and they added to the family museum many valuable specimens. Upon the whole, these boys were the most skilful collectors I have ever met. They accompanied me on many excursions into the woods, when we camped together, and on such occasions I had the best opportunity of witnessing their matchless skill.

They climbed the trees as easily as any black man. When they had their tomahawks in their hands no tree was too high for them. Like the blacks, they cut niches in the bark for the support of their toes, and in this way they were able to secure insects found only in the highest tree-tops.

They were always barefooted, in order to get about more easily, and the stones and uneven ground gave them no trouble on our excursions, as they planted their supple and sure feet in the most difficult places. Ever on the alert, nothing escaped their attention. Even when they stood ready to fire their guns, they would suddenly start off to catch an insect flying by; and in the woods they were able to seize with their hands, while running, one beetle after the other that came flying past.

Their keen faculty of observation astonished me again and again. They studied the life and habits of animals, and gave me much valuable information, for they knew the fauna of the locality perfectly. They did not confine themselves to the neighbourhood of the station. Their father sometimes sent them on long expeditions, and they invariably returned with large collections.

There were many brush-turkeys (_Talegalla lathami_) in this region. So far as I am aware, it has not hitherto been known how the young of this bird work their way out of the peculiar mound in which the eggs are laid to be hatched by artificial heat, after the custom of the megapodidæ. Mr. Barnard thinks he has found this out. His sons had at one time brought home some eggs from such a mound made of earth and decayed plants. Two of them were laid under a hen, but rotted away. One egg he placed in a heap of goats’ manure near his house. When a few days later he went to look after the egg, and carefully removed the covering, he at once discovered the fact that a little bird was lying on its back and trying to work its way out of the heap of manure. It had already reached to within two inches of the surface.

His sons had also, in digging for talegalla eggs, observed young birds lying on their backs and trying to work their way out with their feet. The material of the mound seems to be more loosely put together at the bottom than at the top, where it is made of coarser stuff.

At a station in the neighbourhood there was a tame male talegalla which lived with the hens. It was in the habit of chasing them together into a little grove near the house, and the proprietor of the station was convinced that the bird in this manner was trying to compel the hens to build a mound. When the hens, not understanding what was expected of them, ran away, the talegalla would chase them back into the grove, and at last he became so troublesome that it was found necessary to shoot him.

Near Fairfield, close to the station, my young assistants found, in the month of September, nests belonging to the beautiful Australian parrot _Platycercus pulcherrimus_. Usually the nests were several miles apart. The eggs were partly hatched. The strange fact about these nests is that they are built in the hills of “the white ants.” There is an irregular entrance about two inches in diameter and about a foot above the ground. In the interior the parrot makes an opening about a foot high and two or three feet in diameter. None of the building material is carried away, but all the cells and canals are trampled down, so that there remains simply a wall one or two inches thick around the whole nest. Here the female lays five white eggs.

In this locality there were countless kangaroos. Though these animals are really harmless, still the colonists keep at a respectful distance from an old kangaroo which has been driven to a tree by the dogs. This is not surprising, when we learn that in a sitting posture it may attain a height of six to seven feet. A specimen measuring eight feet has been shot. It is said that the male marsupials, particularly kangaroos, continue to grow as long as they live. The kangaroos never make an attack, but I know of instances when this animal has given proof not only of its strength but also of its fearlessness.

Mr. Barnard informed me that his dogs were one day chasing an old kangaroo when an ox-driver happened to be passing with his waggon. At the sight of the animal the man ran behind his waggon to avoid the kangaroo, which was advancing toward him, but when it came near the ox-driver it made a jump sideways, seized him, and carried him about twelve paces, until the dogs compelled the powerful animal to let go of its victim.

A stalwart Highland shepherd was on his way home one evening with his dog, when suddenly he discovered a large object in front of him. Having lately come to Australia he had scarcely seen one of these animals before, and being very superstitious, he thought it was the devil himself. Meanwhile his dog attacked the monster, but instead of taking flight it assumed the form of a great kangaroo, came up to the shepherd, put its large arms around him, and hopped away with him. The dog pursued the bold robber until the latter let go of its victim, after having carried him ten to twelve paces.

On another occasion, when Mr. Barnard was out riding with some of his friends, he met an “old man kangaroo.” One of the company galloped after it and struck it several times with his whip, so as to compel it to sit down and thus be more easily subdued; but suddenly the kangaroo turned, clasped its arms round the neck of the horse, so that it was hanging with its breast against the head of the horse. In this position the kangaroo made desperate efforts to rip the horse’s belly open with its large claw, while the horse, on the other hand, leapt about frantically to get rid of its unwelcome embraces. That it was difficult for the rider to keep his place in the saddle it is not necessary to state. The scene was so comical that his companions were hardly able to give him the necessary assistance as soon as they ought to have done.

When a kangaroo with a big young one in its pouch is pursued, it will throw it out of the pouch in order to make its escape easier. This done, the mother runs in a zigzag direction, probably to draw the attention of the pursuer away from the young, which lies perfectly still where it is dropped. A kangaroo never carries different broods in its pouch; but a well-grown one may often be seen following its mother while she is carrying a little one in her pouch.

I am able to relate, as a most remarkable fact, that a wallaroo, a peculiar kind of kangaroo (_Macropus robustus_), which was kept tame at a station, showed a marked fondness for animal food, particularly for boiled salt beef. A dove had been its companion, and these two animals were the best of friends for half a year, when the wallaroo one day killed its companion and partly ate it. This wallaroo had been captured while young, and had been brought up on milk, bread, and fresh grass. As an analogous circumstance I may mention that rabbits which have been brought up together with chickens have killed the latter and eaten some of their flesh.

I brought many interesting things from my sojourn at Coomooboolaroo, among others a fine collection of _Buprestidæ_. The strange-looking lizard at the beginning of this chapter, _Nephrurus asper_, and the _Bolboceras rhinoceros_, given on a separate plate, are also from this locality. In the evenings a number of insects usually came flying into the house, attracted by the light, and in this manner I caught this rare beetle and many other specimens. On the ground near the station there were large flocks of cockatoos. With their powerful beaks they dug up roots of a grass (_Panicum semialatum_) of which they are very fond. It interested me to observe that among the many kinds of grass, so similar in appearance that a superficial observer would take them to be identical, the cockatoos never failed to find at once the one they wanted. One day the rare hawk variety _Astur radiatus_ was shot near the station while it was consuming a white cockatoo it had caught. The nest, found close by in the top of a high Moreton Bay ash, resembled the nests of other hawks, and contained two eggs, of a dirty white colour, with a few irregular light brown marks (length 2⁵⁄₁₆ inches, breadth 1¹⁵⁄₁₆ inch).

One of my chief occupations during these days was the study of the spiny ant-eaters’ mode of propagation. One of my young friends at the station and a black man had found a spiny ant-eater (_Echidna_), from whose pouch they took an egg which, according to their description, was not quite half the size of a hen’s egg, and the shell of which was like leather and resembled that of an “iguana” egg. This egg, however, had been destroyed, and so I resolved to do all in my power to investigate the matter, and had a large number of ant-eaters examined. My investigations extended from the beginning of February to the middle of March, and I made the observation that the ovaries were constantly growing in size during this time. As I had to leave Australia at the end of March, I unfortunately was unable to continue my observations to the end of the development, but still I came to the conclusion that the reports I had received from the blacks corresponded with the facts, as has since been demonstrated in other quarters. According to the statements of the blacks, the ant-eaters were to have young in April or May. The nearly mature eggs, lying in the ovaries and taken from a full-grown specimen, in the beginning of March measured about ⅑ of an inch[21] in diameter. The _mammæ_ of the same individual were large and swollen, and contained much milk. The ovaries are very much like those of birds in appearance, but are distinguished from the latter by the fact that the right and left ovary are of the same size, while in birds only one ovary is usually developed.

Footnote 21:

Prof. G. A. Guldberg: _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Eierstockeier bei Echidna_. Jena, 1885.

In August of the same year the English naturalist Mr. Caldwell established the fact that the spiny ant-eater actually lays eggs, and he has shown that the same is the case with the ornithorhynchus. The egg, which was found at the same time by Mr. Haacke in Adelaide, was ¾ of an inch in diameter, and had a shell like parchment, which was broken by a slight pressure of the finger. As is well known, turtles and other reptiles have eggs of this kind. By this important discovery it is therefore established that the ant-eater and the ornithorhynchus nurse their young with milk as do other mammals, but that they lay eggs like birds and reptiles.

The natives occasionally came to Gracemere either to fish in the lagoon or to gather the roots of the blue water-lily, which they use as food. It is claimed that the blacks of this part of Australia are familiar with the use of stimulants. If the leaves of _Erythroxylon australis_, which is common in the scrubs near Rockhampton, possess stimulating qualities similar to those of South America’s _Erythroxylon coca_ (“cocaine”), then we may presume that the blacks are aware of it.

At the lower part of Fitzroy river the natives used to catch mullets with their hand-nets in the winter season; they knew by the appearance of a certain star, which they called “Nia,” that the mullet was coming down the river to spawn, and they always caught a great number of this fish that were full of roe.

The Australian natives are very skilful in various kinds of handiwork, but their talent manifests itself in different ways. One may excel in making baskets, another in producing the best fishing-nets, a third the best weapons, etc. I purchased a number of articles from the natives of Central Queensland. Near the coast I secured several bands for the forehead, remarkable for their solidity and beauty. The little bags, which they plait with great skill, are also very strong and pretty. Some of these things are made from cotton thread, but the most common material is the so-called opossum yarn—that is, hairs pulled out of the opossum skin (_Irichosurus vulpecula_) and twisted into threads between the flat hand and the thigh. From this yarn the blacks make a little apron, worn about the waist in this part of Australia. Opossum yarn is also worn in bunches on various parts of the body, for instance round the loins or over one shoulder. Sometimes a “band” of this sort is thrown over each shoulder, in such a way that they form a cross on the breast and on the back. I have even seen civilised blacks wearing these bands under their clothes, but their purpose I do not know. The natives are very willing to part with them. Frequently five or six threads of opossum yarn are twisted together to form a plain ornament about the wrist or neck. Opossum skins are also sewed together and used partly as articles of clothing, partly as mats.

Their shields are small, and as a rule are made of the light cork-tree (_Erythrina vespertilio_). The front side is rather curved, while the reverse is flat and furnished with a little handle cut out of the shield itself. Like most of the weapons of the natives, the shield is carved and then usually painted with white and red.

Wooden swords are rare, and differ from those of Northern Queensland, being more curved, not so broad, and usually coloured with cross-bars of chalk. A weapon even more rare is the so-called _bendi_. It resembles a small pickaxe, and is made of the _Eucalyptus exserata_, called by the natives bendo. The bend or curve forms a right angle, and ends in a point, the wood itself giving the weapon this form. Bendi is not a javelin, but a weapon to strike with, and with it the natives try to hit the kidneys of their opponents; for these they regard as the seat of life.

The spears of these natives are thrown by the hand alone, without the aid of any other implement. Near the point the spear has two to four enlargements resembling rings, and as the latter are rifled, they form a sort of barb.

The most important weapon of the Australian native is the tomahawk, which is made of basalt, greenstone, or some other hard stone, sometimes even of phonolite. The natives have been known to travel great distances in order to secure, by barter from foreign tribes, the best material, and thus trading centres sprang up in some districts. The stone is either cut into the proper shape, or one is used which is naturally of the correct form, and the edge is generally made sharp by whetting. The handle is invariably made by bending a piece of vine stalk round the stone, and then tying the ends of the stalk together with withies as close under the stone as possible; gum is also put on to make the joint more firm. Axes with holes through them have not been found. The Australian makes most of his weapons with the tomahawk, which also serves as his most important weapon for the chase, and which he is never without. All kinds of fine work are performed with the aid of pieces of hard stone, which he usually fastens to a handle and uses as a chisel. For carving he uses implements of stone or of bone.

An idea of the culture of the Australian is easily gained by examining his weapons and implements. They are made mostly of wood, and bows and arrows are unknown. On Herbert river the natives employ javelins almost exclusively for hunting, but when in the dense scrubs they are as a rule unarmed. If they discover an animal they break branches off the trees, and try to kill it with these. They are generally successful, for most of the animals frequent the trees, and escape is therefore difficult when the natives make an attack from all sides and surround them. When an animal has been slain and is to be prepared for food, the belly is opened by the first stone or piece of wood found suitable for the purpose. The game is divided for distribution either with a stone or with the teeth, which are also largely used for breaking off limbs of trees and for making implements. The knives used by the natives of Australia are either pieces of hard stone accidentally found ready for use, or are secured by breaking pieces off the rock, but not much additional labour is bestowed on them, though they are sometimes shaped or fastened with glue to a kind of wooden handle. On the other hand, the natives understand how to polish their tomahawks; and when tribes have been found who had only roughly worked ones, the reason is not ignorance in polishing, but that the hardness of the material made the tomahawks quite sharp enough without it. Still, it will be seen that the aboriginal Australian has not advanced very far in the stone age.

When the natives become “civilized” they at once exchange their stone weapons for the white man’s weapons of iron. They are particularly fond of his tomahawk. Even on Herbert river the stone axe had given place to the latter tool, which however was so rare in some parts that a whole tribe sometimes had to be satisfied with one or two implements of this kind. Blacks who have never seen a white man occasionally get iron implements by bartering with other tribes. After becoming civilised the Australian native begins to make tomahawks from broken horse-shoes or from some other piece of iron, and to stud his club with nails. There are instances on record where the natives have cut down the telegraph poles and used the wire for spear points and fish-hooks. After becoming acquainted with the use of iron, the black man makes but little use of his wooden weapons and implements, and strange to say, does not make them so nicely as formerly, when his tools were inferior. He also takes less pains with all kinds of carving.

The natives of Central Queensland have, as a matter of course, obtained that kind of civilisation which necessarily results from a prolonged intercourse with the white population. They have long since recognised the superiority of Europeans, and the new condition of things is leading them to give up their former occupations. The most capable ones become servants at the stations, partly as cooks, partly as stock-men and shepherds, and they are of considerable use to the white population; but the great mass of them prefer to enjoy their liberty, while at the same time contact with the white man gives their life and habits a new character. The settlers are on account of their flocks obliged to encroach on the hunting-grounds of the black, and the natives, who have no thought of the future or of posterity, are satisfied with the advantages obtained in exchange for the loss of their hunting-grounds—that is, they get the leavings from the kitchen and the slaughter-house, milk, old clothes, tobacco, etc. Sometimes the squatter appoints the best native near his station a “king,” and as a mark of this dignity he gives him a piece of brass containing his civilised name to wear on his breast. In return for food, tobacco, woollen blankets, and similar things, the “king” promises to watch his tribe, and keep them from doing damage to the white man’s property. Every native is anxious to become “king,” for the brass plate, which is considered a great ornament, also secures the bearer many a meal. At first, while the natives are more or less dangerous, a chief of this kind may be very valuable to a squatter, who may in this way be warned of attacks from hostile tribes, but after the natives have become quiet and peaceable the institution is of value only to the bearer of the brass plate, who continues to demand his pay.

The degeneration and demoralisation of the natives, which are an inevitable result of the march of civilisation, are already far advanced even in this part of Australia. The natives become more indolent, and they lose their former self-reliance and independence after they acquire the habit of relying on what they can get from the white man. They spend most of their time near the stations and villages, where they are able to obtain liquor and opium, for which the Chinese immigrants soon give them a taste. I cannot conceive a more disgusting sight than a camp of such ragged, impudent blacks marked by all the vices of civilisation. To me, coming from Northern Queensland, where the natives still were in their pristine vigour, the picture was an exceedingly sad one, when I considered the future awaiting the friends I had left there.

Shortly before my return to Europe I visited a camp of “civilised” blacks near Rockhampton. Even before reaching the camp I felt the smell of opium, and on coming nearer I was the witness of a most disgusting scene. Around the camp fires sat natives pale as death itself. The opium-pipe was constantly in their mouths and their eyes stared out bewildered from their deep hollow sockets. I approached the man whom I wanted to see. He had lost his flesh, and his skin had become yellow and sickly. It was all he could do to stammer forth a request for money to buy more opium. A month ago I had seen him strong and well, now he was a mere skeleton and presumably on the brink of the grave.

I turned my face away from this horrible scene and mounted my horse, sad to think that this was to be my last impression of the world of the blacks.